13 LGBTQ Women (and Allies) Who Could Be Biden’s VP

www.advocate.com/politics/2020/3/18/13-lgbtq-women-and-allies-who-could-be-bidens-vp

LGBTQ groups demand Congress do more to protect HIV+ people from threat of COVID-19

AIDS United and 90 leading HIV and LGBTQ organizations in the US, including GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, Whitman-Walker Health and The AIDS Institute have sent a letter to every member of Congress reminding them not to overlook the threat posed by coronavirus to those with HIV.

If you are HIV positive, on treatment and have an undetectable viral, it’s believed that COVID-19 should pose no greater threat than it does to those who are HIV-negative.

However, this can be complicated by other factors. For example, long-term HIV survivors may have other health complications or may have suffered lung damage or other ill-health prior to beginning their treatment.

Another concern is that only an estimated 53% of those are are HIV positive in the US are HIV undetectable. By contrast, in the UK, over 90% of those with HIV are diagnosed and HIV undetectable.

Related: LGBTQ people at heightened risk from coronavirus, warn advocacy groups

The letter calls on federal lawmakers to address the unique needs of people living with HIV to ensure their continued safety, health, and well-being.

“Many people living with HIV are understandably concerned about how this virus may affect them and the communities they call home,” states the letter.

“The populations most at risk of serious complications from COVID-19 — including death — are older adults and individuals with chronic health conditions, including compromised immune systems.”

It goes on to point out, “Given that only 53% of people living with HIV in the United States have an undetectable viral load3 and that 60% of the people living with HIV in the United States are age 50 or older, a large swath of the U.S. population living with HIV is at great risk during the rapid spread of COVID-19.”

It says, “When crafting a relief package in response to COVID-19, Congress must take into account the unique needs of people living with HIV to ensure their continued safety, health, and well-being.”

This includes ensuring accommodation and food security.

The organizations say they support the current relief package proposed in the US House of Representatives, but that it doesn’t go far enough. It then lists over a dozen additional considerations.

These include: “Waivers of refill limits on maintenance drugs, inclusive of antiretrovirals, for people with chronic conditions like HIV and hepatitis”; “Rental and mortgage assistance for workers whose income streams are diminished or eliminated by mandatory closures”; and a “Commitment to free access to treatment and vaccination, once identified.”

It concludes, “The continued safety, health, and well-being of everyone in the United States, especially those living with HIV, rests in the hands of a comprehensive response, and the time to act is now.”

Related: Girl who licked toilet seat in “coronavirus challenge” insists she’s protected because she’s on PrEP

HIV disproportionately affects men who have sex with men.

All sexually active gay men are advised to have a full sexual health checkup, including an HIV test, at least once a year, or more often if they have multiple partners.

If you’ve never had an HIV test, or it’s been a long time since your last one, the spread coronavirus is yet another reason to get tested and know your status.

www.queerty.com/lgbtq-groups-demand-congress-protect-hiv-people-threat-covid-19-20200318?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Quarantined Barcelona Pianist and Saxophonist Next Door Lift Neighborhood’s Spirits with ‘My Heart Will Go On’ — WATCH

Lift your spirits today with this bit of shared humanity from Barcelona. Alberto Gestoso, a quarantined pianist in the Spanish city went to his balcony to cheer his neighbors with a performance of “My Heart Will Go On” when he was joined by a saxophonist in the building next door. The duo was applauded by families up and down the street from their own balconies.

The post Quarantined Barcelona Pianist and Saxophonist Next Door Lift Neighborhood’s Spirits with ‘My Heart Will Go On’ — WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Quarantined Barcelona Pianist and Saxophonist Next Door Lift Neighborhood’s Spirits with ‘My Heart Will Go On’ — WATCH

Another study says you’re more likely to be gay if you have an older brother

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Toronto in Canada has found that you’re more likely to be gay if you have an older brother. This is not the first time this finding has been noted. The study included a comparative analysis of ten previous studies.

In total, it looked at 5,400 men and found that if a man has an older brother, they were 38% more likely to be gay than a man without an older brother.

The findings have not been replicated in women, where no link has been found between sexuality and the number of siblings someone has.

Previous studies have found that the more older brothers you have, the more likely you may grow up to be gay. If you have three older brothers, it’s been suggested you are twice as likely to be gay than if you have no older brothers.

Related: The religious right is really happy about the study saying there is no single ‘gay gene’

This study looked primarily at families with one or two sons only. It found that men with younger brothers showed neither an increase or decrease in the likelihood of being gay. The results were published in the biology journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

It is unknown what causes this phenomenon.

Some scientists have speculated that each time a woman carries a male child in her womb, she produces a slightly different set of antibodies – prompted by her exposure to ‘male-specific substances’ in her unborn child.

The different antibodies she produces can impact the brain development of the next male child she carries. The controversial theory has been dubbed the “maternal immune hypothesis.”

A second hypothesis proposes that if there are genes that make men gay, the same genes in women make them more fertile and therefore likely to produce more offspring. Hence, the genes remain present in the human population despite gay men having fewer offspring than straight men.

The authors of this study say their findings lean more towards the first hypothesis than the second, but that’s not to be considered as proof. They suggest more research is needed into the second hypothesis – specifically research that counts, “the offspring of homosexual men’s sisters, maternal aunts, maternal grandmothers and so on, in addition to analyzing the offspring of their own mothers.”

Related: Older brothers double your chances of being gay

Professor David Spiegelhalter, a statistician from the University of Cambridge unconnected with the research, told The Daily Mail: “The fascinating study estimates that having an older brother increases the odds of being gay by 38%, supporting the idea that a mother’s immune response to having a male child influences subsequent boys.

“People have endlessly argued about the possible roles of genetics and upbringing, but this clear result fits in neither category.”

www.queerty.com/another-study-says-youre-likely-gay-older-brother-20200318?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Trump Brags About the ‘Very Good Job’ He’s Done on the Coronavirus in Racist Tweet

Donald Trump on Wednesday morning bragged about the great job he’s done on coronavirus, but he didn’t call it that.

Tweeted Trump: “I always treated the Chinese Virus very seriously, and have done a very good job from the beginning, including my very early decision to close the “borders” from China – against the wishes of almost all. Many lives were saved. The Fake News new narrative is disgraceful & false!”

On Wednesday morning, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman ripped Trump’s attempts to rewrite history with respect to his response to the coronavirus: “He wasn’t taking this particularly seriously. He didn’t want officials to talk about it publicly for fear of rattling the markets. He was angry when people who had been affected on cruise ships ended up brought back to the U.S. for quarantine… For him to go out and claim that he treated this as if it was a pandemic the whole time, that is a lie, it’s not true. … He doesn’t take most of these departments or agencies particularly seriously unless they were — unless it deals with immigration or law enforcement. If you are not initiating a strong response, and you are outsourcing this solely to health professionals, you’re not going to mobilize major portions of the government in order to be able respond to this. Candidly, it’s inexcusable that it took this long.”

The post Trump Brags About the ‘Very Good Job’ He’s Done on the Coronavirus in Racist Tweet appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Trump Brags About the ‘Very Good Job’ He’s Done on the Coronavirus in Racist Tweet

Despite Coronavirus, LGBTQ Voters Continue Historic High Turnout

This presidential primary every exit poll, in every state, shows one consistent trend: LGBTQ voters are fired up and turning out in record-high numbers.

From New Hampshire and South Carolina, to Texas and Illinois, LGBTQ voters have more than doubled — and in some cases tripled — their proportion in the population.

Over the last two decades, our rights have been on the ballot, spurring LGBTQ people to register and participate in politics more than many other demographic groups. LGBTQ voters have consistently punched above their weight and solidified themselves as a constituency to court.

For more information on LGBTQ and Equality Voters in states with primaries and caucuses in March, go to HRC’s March State Voter Snapshot.

TUESDAY’S PRIMARIES – CNN Exit Polling

PREVIOUS PRIMARIES – CNN Exit Polling

www.hrc.org/blog/despite-coronavirus-lgbtq-voters-continue-historic-high-turnout?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Oprah Denies Being Arrested After Sex Trafficking Rumor Spreads Online

Oprah Winfrey took to Twitter early Wednesday morning to dispel reports that she had been arrested after a raid at her Boca Raton home. The reports originated from the conspiracy theorist group QAnon, which said she had been charged with sex trafficking.

Tweeted Oprah: “Just got a phone call that my name is trending. And being trolled for some awful FAKE thing. It’s NOT TRUE. Haven’t been raided, or arrested. Just sanitizing and self distancing with the rest of the world. Stay safe everybody.”

The Washington Post reports: “The outlandish allegations were reportedly propagated by online devotees of QAnon, the bizarre conspiracy theory that ‘centers on the idea that an anonymous government official, or ‘Q,’ has been secretly sharing messages and symbols that serve as evidence of a hidden plot to overthrow Trump,’ as The Washington Post’s Tony Romm and Colby Itkowitz previously reported. Followers, most of them enthusiastic supporters of President Trump, believe that many elite politicians and celebrities belong to an international cabal of pedophiles and will soon be arrested.”

Pro golfer Scott Piercy recently lost several sponsors after revealing he was a QAnon follower and posting a homophobic meme about Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg.

The post Oprah Denies Being Arrested After Sex Trafficking Rumor Spreads Online appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Oprah Denies Being Arrested After Sex Trafficking Rumor Spreads Online